If you work from home, what is good about it?

[Leemoe]

I have just been offered a wfh role, office hours mon-fri.

Currently I work 7-9 three days per week in a field based role travelling a territory which covers 300 miles or so.

Obviously it's quite a big change but it is a promotion of sorts so I feel as though I should have a good crack at it.
DH also wfh office hours. Tbh I'm not relishing spending every waking hour with him...we have a very good marriage but it just seems like asking for trouble. Surely we will be sick of the sight of one another?

However I'm looking forward to the house being more organised, being able to keep on top of the laundry a bit more and being able to do school runs a bit more frequently, oh and being able to clock off at five and go out for the evening with the DCs etc. And I will be off every weekend so long as I don't want to do any overtime, which given the current financial crisis I will possibly need to...

I do feel luke I will lose the will to live stuck in the house all day as I'm quite an outgoing person who likes the company of others.

I just worry that I'm going to hate wfh.
I feel odd saying that because most people seem to see it as a big perk of the job.

Am I missing something marvellous about it which is really bloody obvious to everybody else?

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or experiences

We both wfh - and I work for DH and his partner. He works more hours than I do, although only part time, due to ill health. I have more caring responsibilities.

It doesn’t affect our marriage at all. We have a spare bedroom each for our own office. We like it because:

1. It saves him about £10,000 equivalent of gross pay, to pay for an annual season ticket out of taxed income. Me less as I never worked every day for him anyway.
2. It saves on three hours commuting a day; with a resulting reduction in stress due to the trains being all cancelled at least one day a week!
3. We are much less tired, due to not having all the stress of commuting, cancelled trains, etc.
4. We can eat what we want at home, whereas the office only had a microwave and toaster.
5. Due to saving three hours a day commuting, we can go for a walk in the afternoon in the countryside instead.
6. There are less noisy distractions than there were in the office, with other people on the phone.
7. Less colds, flu, and other illnesses due to sharing carriages with people, coughing, sneezing and spluttering all winter.
8. He can look out of the window, as his desk overlooks the back garden. In the office, we felt like we never saw daylight all day in the winter on work days, as we got up in the dark and came home in the dark.

• Can play music I love not have to put up with annoying office radio
• Can go for a run at lunch
• Can work in comfy clothes
• Can do a 2 minute burst of exercise when I start feeling the afternoon slump
• Can do housework up until 1 minute before I start work
• Save money on travel and lunches

I'm sure it has all been said, but:

• No commute - so on average 2 hrs a day saved, but on bad days that could be a lot more
• Peace and quiet without interruptions from people asking you things or just chatting about nonsense (and I am a person who loves to chat, but not when I'm trying to get something finished)
• Being at home and therefore able to be there for all those appointments your home needs - the boiler serviced, or the piano tuned, or someone coming to fix your washing machine, or that delivery that will be there 'sometime between 8am and 8pm'. Obviously when you stop for 5 mins to let them in, I don't count that as work time, but - without the commute - you have that flexibility to stop work (just as you would in an office for 5 mins to make a cuppa) at a time that is useful to you
• Flexibility of hours so you can make an appointment when one is available at 4pm or during your lunchbreak or at 8.30 (dentist, Dr, smear test, mammogram, vaccination, even haircut). Again, that is obviously not working time, but all those things are near my home, not my office, so can be done in a relatively short break.
• Flexibility to be able to finish something off when that makes more sense for whatever it is I am working on - having the ability to work at home means I sometimes come back to finish something after my evening meal when I am 'on a roll' (and credit the time against when my next appointment may be - see above)
• Wear what you want
• Not tense from rush hour traffic twice a day, plus costs of course (though you might want the heating on occasionally at home to offset that).
• When my dc were of an age when they could walk home by themselves, it was still nice to be there when they got home, have a couple of mins asking about their day, and then of course being in the house so they weren't alone for 2 hrs or more day after day, or we weren't paying out for childcare (obviously can't do this with little ones - but you are still likely to need fewer hours of out of school care as you don't have a commute
• During the day, great to be able to do something useful for your own home.....eg, starting work 15mins earlier, then taking a break at 10.30 to hang the washing out means work get the same amount of time from you, but your washing is out in the sunshine all day rather than sitting in your machine until you arrive home at 6pm or 7pm and of course there is no sun......... ditto preparing the evening meal.......or the dishwasher that I might have emptied in the staffroom whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and tea to brew, is now actually my own dishwasher instead so another job less to do when we get home
• When I need to move or just to clear my head, I can go for a much nicer walk from my front door than in the area where my office is

It does help if you and your dh have different spaces you can work in.
It does require a certain amount of self discipline
It helps in that I know the job well and get on well with really supportive colleagues so would have not problem asking someone if I needed help - slightly different in a new role I can see
I am also helped by the fact that - now covid is over - I do sometimes get out occasionally for a meeting / visit / training.

I also get out and about in the evenings doing hobbies and volunteering, so I still get to talk to lots of people across the week. (but it is easier to do so as I am not commuting ,and I can get the dinner on earlier)

Ooh, sorry. That was long

I’ve gone from being site based 5 days a week to WFH with a day in the office every other week.

I will admit it’s been a massive adjustment for me but it will be a lot better once we have finished converting the summer house into an office for me and I no longer have to work in the kitchen/bedroom

Things I do like

• No commute new office is a 2 hour journey

• Being able to do the school run

• Being able to put a load of washing on in my lunch break

• Being able to wear my jogging bottoms (suffer from IBD and bloat so comfy most of the day)

• As above I have IBD so can use the toilet as and when I need to

• The flexibility so I can start work 6.30 works till 8 do the school run, work till 3pm collect the kids (if needed) or work after till 5/5.30 also being able to book dentist/doctors etc I can work my hours around the appointments.

I really haven’t adjusted to the lack of social contact being on site meant I dealt with lots of people and I miss that, it’s just me, my laptop and teams

This is what I'm scared of! DH keeps alluding to the fact that it will be nice to be alone in the house without the DC! 🤣

Thanks for all the replies, lots of food for thought.

I hadn't really considered the comfy clothes, not having to set the alarm for 5.45am and being close to my own loo when dealing with heavy periods. No more buying an unwanted Starbucks so that I can use their awful facilities on the hop.

DH is going to be working downstairs and I'll be upstairs so hopefully we won't get in early others way too much.

I really hope that I like it as much as the majority of you seem to. It's just a new way of working so don't know what to expect. I will definitely make the effort to go for a stroll on my lunch nreaks to break the day up a bit.

Literally everything. Only bad thing is I'm struggling to find another wfh job and my current company haven't given me a payrise for 4 years so it could because it's so easy not to as I never see them.

No commute
Keeping on top of laundry etc
Getting the house clean and tidy after kids have left for school at 8 and I start at 9

• By not being tied to a geographical location I have been able to obtain a far more senior and far better paid role than otherwise.
• I get far more done with peace and quiet
• No wasted time commuting
• Save loads of money not commuting
• Save loads of money not paying for after school club childcare
• Much better worklife balance
• Can pop a washing on when having a break
• Healthier lunches
• DH wfh and its great to have lunch together, go for a walk or do other things😜 at lunchtime

I do get to go to in-person events and meetings at least a few times a month so I am not at home 100% of the time

Quite apart from anything else, if I had a 1h lunch break that could easily accommodate 10 minutes food shop put away, 30m walk, 10m eat a sandwich and 10m housekeeping.

A little and often housekeeping approach fits really well with work.

It lets me drop my grandson off to school- one of the many bonuses (for me) of wfh

It all depends on your personality, I love it and so does DH but we are unsociable introverted buggers and we live in a lovely rural idyl and hate commuting in to the city.

We also have a dedicated garden office that DH uses as he is WFH full time and I am hybrid. We don’t see each other when working apart from lunchtime or the odd loo/kitchen break and we deliberately don’t talk all day so we have something like a normal evening to catch up.

We get loads of house jobs done, more time with DD, later getting up and sooner relaxing in the eves. No negative here.

I have people in my team though that hate WFH and have opted to be in the office every day (we are hybrid with the option for 100% office).

It doesn’t sound like it will suit you necessarily @Leemoe if you need the social side.

I had to listen to a briefing the other day from our exec, entirely passive (mic and camera off), no interaction required. I cleaned the bathroom while I was tuned in. Much more rewarding than being crammed into a hall when these were f2f. I don’t ever want to go back to that!

I mostly wfh but do one day in the office which I find a nice balance. Good things about wfh:
No commute
More time with DC in evening (I do still need childcare but not for as long)
If our wfh days line up can have lunch with DH (usually we just eat together but guess other things are possible)
Due to no commute I tend to take a longer lunch and go for a walk, catch up on housework or just chill out
Can keep on top of laundry

Only downside is it can get a bit lonely sometimes. Oh and DH and I work in different rooms or I think we'd drive each other mad.

Its all been said already, but for me the biggest thing is being here at home with my lovely 3 old lady dogs (15, 12 and 10) who are all on the sofa near my desk snoring loudly. I would hate for them to be alone all day and would probably come back to a kitchen full of wee from their aging bladders.

It's the best. I can sleep in, no grotty commute, I can wear what I want, eat what I want, nip to the shop.

In my lunch break I can have a bath, a nap, watch TV, walk in the park, do chores.

When I finish at 5pm I'm already home!

I can get up an hour later
I don't have to wear "corporate clothes" or launder them
I save time because I don't have to commute
I save money because I don't have to commute
I can get a coffee in 2 mins at home rather than 20 mins at work. It's also cheaper
I prepare my own lunch - healthier and cheaper. In the summer, lunch can be a BBQ in the garden
As soon as I finish work, I'm at home
I can put on a wash before work and hang it up at lunchtime. I can put another one on at lunchtime and hang it up at 5:30
There's a presence in the house most of the time - useful on a security front but also if we get any deliveries
I can set up my workspace how I like it and leave it that way - in the office I hot-desk which I absolutely detest
I have my own, clean kitchen and toilet
I can concentrate on my work without constant interruptions

DH also works from home 2-3 days a week, but we each have out own space on different floors and don't disturb each other. We do have coffee together though

@AnotherCountryMummy

I love absolutely everything about it. But to name a few things:

getting ahead of chores over lunch or quick breaks, such as making a start on dinner,

putting on a wash, hanging clothes out to dry

going for lovely lunchtime walks. I live in the countryside whereas my office is city based

saving an hour plus on the commute

not having to put on makeup or nice clothes if I don't fancy it

not having to pack a work bag every day or worry about taking lunch/spending money on lunch if I don't pack one

being able to sign for parcels or be able to keep an eye on our building work etc

being able to finish earlier if I want and nobody knows or cares

Honestly I could go on! 5☆ recommend it!

Pretty much all of this. I am pretty independent as a worker, and organise my own workload. (I do around 26 hours a week.) I can do a lot of my work in the morning, and then chill a bit after lunch, and often finish at say 2pm, (sometimes earlier if I start earlier.) And go for nice walks (as I live in the countryside too,) when it's nice and sunny.

No bosses around me, no nasty snarky catty colleagues, no men leching at me, no travel expenses, no commute with hundreds of people pushing and shoving, no traffic queues, tons of money saved on petrol and lunches, and 2 hours a day saved by not having to travel. (And I don't have to roll out of bed til 8.40am ish, instead of 7pm like I used to have to.) Sometimes I will start earlier if I want to finish early.

I could NEVER go back. I don't miss anything about 'being in the workplace...' I still see my colleagues (the 4 or 5 I actually like) for coffee and/or lunch every 2-3 weeks, and speak to them on whatsapp, and I see other friends and family too several times a month, so I am never lonely. I love my own company, so this is a brilliant arrangement for me.

@Leemoe DO IT. If you have got the chance to.

I could not imagine working from home when I was in my 20's and 30's - life was so much very different then. I commuted to London every day and had a ball.

I have worked from home for the last 15 or so years. Initially it used to be a combination of client visits a couple of days a week and WFH rest of the week, or maybe a week at a client then a week at home. Nowadays it is purely home based.

I love it and do not miss any kind of commute or travel, I did go to London last week and it seemed like such an effort for little gain, in fact everything I did whilst I was there I could have done at home as per usual. Luckily my company pay my expenses otherwise I would have also been about £120 out of pocket for train fares/lunch/parking.

I live in an idyllic little village and keep my horse 30secs drive from home. I can walk there in 5 mins. WFH means I can look after her myself and save an absolute fortune on livery fee's.

I love working from home, there is so much more flexibility to it, especially in the summer, I can ride my horse before or after work when the weather and light is better, I could never do this if I was getting up to go to an office, however local it may be. No one needs to know I am sitting here in my riding gear for a start.

Awwwwwwww. 😂😘

@HeavenIsAHalfpipe

And I don't have to roll out of bed til 8.40am ish, instead of 7pm like I used to have to........

7AM obviously, not 7pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😂 Dipshit 😩 (I swear I checked my post 73 times, and there's still a fooking error.!!!)

I don't like it much. I tend to wfh 1-2 days per week. I feel really tied to my laptop, no one to talk through difficult situations with, no laughs. I wouldn't wfh ft, especially if my DH was wfh.

I love it and people here have summed it up really well. BUT, for my own mental health, I absolutely need to go into the office at least once a week. Because I also love seeing humans and Zoom, though a blessing, isn't the same.

I wfh most days and love it for all the reasons mentioned. No way could I go back to an office-based job now, in fact it staggers me to think that I used to commute 2+ hours a day, every day!

Wfh has given me a freedom and flexibility that I really value. Some days I'm at my desk from 7.30am to 6pm but other days (like today) I've been able to fit 'life' in too. I also got started on cooking this evening's lasagne whilst having a phone call with a colleague - obviously this might not be possible in all wfh jobs but it works fine for mine!

However, dh doesn't wfh and I think that's better for us not to be in each other's pockets all day long. But everyone is different and plenty of couples do wfh together. You need proper, separate office set-ups though, I reckon.

Another one - not having to deal with a gross hot desking station covered in other peoples germs! Grim